Ink removing contrivance for printing machines



Dec. 22,1931. w. J. PIRIE 1,837,671

INK REMOVING CONTRIVANCE FOR PRINTING MACHINES Filed Dec. 26. 1929 r c F15 K rr T r 11 K I "1 1':::. 1-1".- r' J I L 0 FIRE. H I N Patented Dec.22, 1931 pair-an stares parsni $1 i: E*4

IL QIAM JAMES main, or EDINBURGH, SCOTLAN INK nnMovINs coNraIvA cn FOEPRINTING MACHINES Application filed December 2c, 1229, Serial No.416,408, and iii Great Britain May 31, 1929.

In order to facilitate the removal of ink from the inking rollers ofprinting machines various contrivances have heretofore been proposedwith the objectio'f cleaning the srpllers without removing them fromthema 0 ilne. I

The aforesaid contrivances' may bedivided' into two classes namely thosein which the ink is scraped from one of the rollers in the inking trainand those in which the ink is wiped from one of the rollers. Incontrivances of the former class which have been found more satisfactoryin practice, a scraping blade is held in contact with a roller whichrevolves towards or against the edge of the blade. Contrivances of theother class employ a flexible wiper or rubber strip which wipes the inkoil the-roller, the latter being revolved away from the edge of'thewiper. The solvent used for thinning the ink has a deteriorating effecton the wiper if made of i rubber. V v

In contrivances of the scraper type, the suggestion has been made tomount the scraping blade so that it is held in radial contact with, oneof the soft or composition'rolls of the inking train, but such anarrangement is not satisfactory as the blade damages the resilientsurface of the composition roll; It

: has also been proposed to mount a sharpedged blade in contact with oneof the metal 7 rolls and at anangle to it soas to-strip the ink from themetal roll, but in such case a v stilt or rigid blade is employedclamped bep tween top'and bottom clamping plates so as to protrude fromthem, and means are provided for adjusting the protrusion of the bladefrom said clamping plates in order to adjust the parallelism of its edgeto the axis I of the roll. Means are-also provided for ad justing thescraping blade into and out of its operative position. The ink scrapedoffby the blade flows by gravity into a trough provided to receive theink. A suggestion has also been made that one of the inking rolls shouldbe scraped by a scraping blade which is unitary with suction means forwithdrawing, the ink removed by the blade. The present invention relatesto'contrivances for removing the ink from the inking edge of which ismounted substantially tangential to the roller and. opposedto thedirecrollers by the sc raping'a'ction of a blade held 1 in contact withone of the metal rolls of the inking train and the inventionconsists'i'nfthe employment of a-flexible scraping bladeQthe tionofrotation 01"- the roller and is resiliently pressed against thesurface ofthe roller by .theblade wherever it is required to ensure goodcontact with. the roller? The ipressing members may consist'ofspringfingers mounted upon and ad ustable along a. rocklng shaft or likemember which is rock-ed to causefthe spring fingers to press upon thescraping blade. i The flexible scraping. blade in conjunction with thespaced pressingniembers issuperi or to a rigid blade as it enables any.undue wear that may take place along the length of i the edgeof theblade to be immediately corrected by moving one or the'springpressingmembers along to the point of correction and adjusting it sothat it will apply sufiicient pressure. to the edgeofthe 's'crapingbladeat 1 that point to bringthe worn point of the scraping edgeon'ce'againinto contact withthe roll. a i

It is-preferable that the scrapingablade it should be in contact'with apositively driven or gear-driven metal roll as the useof. a thinningagent'for thinning the ink tends to cause I a friction-driven roll toslip andflcea se rotation'if coacting with a scraping blade.

. The ink removed by the scraping blade falls by gravity-into a troughwhich inthe preferred form accordingto' the present in- I vention is soconstructed as to be capableof being up-endedwithout spilling thecontents and which is also readily detachableso'that' 7 it can beremoved from the machine for emptyingwithoutdanger of the contents beingspilled over the printing machine.-

A further characteristic feature 6f the present invention is thatthescraping blade is carried'by a bar of angle section, the angle ofwhich rests loosely over and rocks upon a anink fount B I a p Thescraping blade C is a flexible metal 1 blade, jpreferably of steel,slightly longer fixed rod, the scraping blade beingthus read-- ilyremovable by lifting the angle-section bar from its supporting rod,while at the same time the scraping blade can be moved clear of theinking roller by rocking the anglesectionbar on its supporting rod whenthe ink is not to be removed from the inking rollers.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, reference ishereinafter made to the accompanying drawings, whereon Fig. 1diagrammatically illustrates theink distributing mechanism ofiaprintingmachine having my invention applied. Fig. 2

is a side viewof the inking roller and scraper,

Fig. 3 is a detailjview'to a larger scale and FigJ4= a fragmentaryperspective viewfof the inktrough.

. Referring to Figs. l'to 3ofthe drawings,

fArepresents one of the-gear-driven'metal ing machine. The roll rolls ofthe train of inkin rollers of the print- K revolves in the direction ofthe arrow against or towards a scraping blade C. The roll A revolves in7 contact with other inking rollers B supplied with ink through amessenger roller'B. from than the inking roller Aand is'fixed to a' barD of angle: section which is supported "on a shaft G which isfitted'acrossthe printing machine.

. "When the inking roller is revolved in the direction of the arrow andthe ink on the inking rollers, A, B is thinned. by a suitable solvent,the ink is scraped ofi the roll A by V the blade C" down which it runsinto a trough or receptacle H which is-supported under I thebladebysuitable brackets I whichare fixed to'the rod V The'trough H islonger than the blade C and is of suff cient capacity to retainall theink removed from the inking rollers. As ,I 1' shown in Fig.4, it ispreferably covered in except for a long'open slot h in thetop thereof,said slot stopping short of the ends of .the trough whichis preferablycylindrical as 'shown,so that when the trough is up-ended,

' the ink will collect inthe cylindrical'portion 'h-'(Fig.' 4); and willnot flow out of the trou'ghowing to the endof the slot h being I at adistance from the end of the trough.

Theapparatus can be attached to any printingmachine whichhas a suitablyacces'sible gear-driven metal inking roller re- I volving in therequired direction and for this purpose I have shown brackets'J attachedto the frame L of the printingmachine, the

design of the brackets 'J being governed by the shapeand' design of thepart of the printthe apparatus may also be used for the procing machineto which the 'contrivance is to be attached in order to bring the steelblade 7 tained in that position by a suitable catch e such as a springpin .K,"until again required, when it will fall by gravity into contactwith the roller 1 A on withdrawing" the spring pin K.

'The shaft G'carrying the spring fingers F is rotatably mounted atit'sends in the brackets J and carries a lever M which; can be retainedin one of two positions by a spring pin N or other suitable catch,whichserves to retain the spring fingers in eithertheir operative orinoperative 'position "When the spring pin N is withdrawn, the lever M ican be moved to rock-the shaft G and thus bring the spring-lingers intoor out of'contact with the blade C. *The spring fingers F are movablealong the shaft G so that they can be set in any desired position inorder that any desired local adjustment may be given to the blade. j 7

The spring fingers F do not require adjustment after thebladeis once setexcept where a new blade is fitted to replace a worn blade. I The bladewhen in use iskept true to thesurface of the inking roller by the springfingers F and'is kept sharp by the rubbing or sharpening'action of thecontact of the metal roll with the edge of the blade when theink-removing apparatus is in action.

Although,.my invention isprimarily intendedfor cleaning theinking rollsof the machine when the printing process has been stoppedand the supplyof ink to the inking rollers has been interrupted, in order that thecolour of the printing may befchanged,

ess of sheeting ofl, i. e. removing surplus ink during theprintingproce'ss, without the use of any ink isolvent, this sheeting-offop-. eration'being desirable in certain cases in order to restrict thesupply of ink to the printing surface when matching up'colours on makingready. The slightest change in shade of ink can be effected successfullyby sheeting-oil with this" apparatus.

The present apparatus does not interfere cessibility off the parts ofthe printing machine and can be completelydetachedfrom the machine'ifnecessaryby removing the brackets J from the machine. The apparatushowever does not normally interfere with the removal of theinkingrollers. asthese can ordinarily be removed without touch except toaverys'malldegree with the-ac-" 12 ing the inkrrenio'ving apparatus, butif more accessibility is desired, the blade C with the bar D canbelifted bodily off the rod E and ing provided fixed brackets I.

I scraping blade and the trough H have been removed, there arepractically no parts left to interfere with accessibility to themachine. Moreover the blade does not require 're-adjustment whenreplaced on the rod E as it automatically takes up itspreviouslyadjusted position when the spring fingers F are brought into action.This is an advantage as it permits of the blade being frequently removedfor cleaning purposes.

Claims.

1. The combination with the inking train of a printing machine, of aflexible scraping blade in operative relationship with one of the metalrolls of said inking train, a rocking member associated with said blade,and a plurality of spring fingers mounted upon and adjustable along saidmember and adapted, when said member is rocked, to resiliently press theedge of said blade into contact with the roll. 7

2. Apparatus as specified in'claim 1 having an ink-receiving troughassociated with the blade.

3. The combination with the inking train of a printing machine,

the metal rolls of said inking train, a rocking member associated withsaid blade, supports along of a flexible scrapingblade in operativerelationship with one of the inking rollers of a printing machine,comflexible scraping blade, abaroi prising a an le section to which saidblade is secured,

a xed rod upon which said angle bar is adapted to rest and rock to holdthe scraping blade in operative relationship with one of the metal rollsof the inking train, a plural- I of spaced pressing members-distributeda the blade, and meansfor moving said pressing members into orout ofresilient contact with the blade;

ity

7 The combinatlon with the inking train of a printing machine, ofbrackets removably attached to the printing machine frame, a staybarconnectingsaid brackets, a rock shaft pivotally mounted in saidbrackets, a

bar of angle section resting by one of its angles upon said stay bar, aflexible scraping blade carried by said angle bar for cooperation withone of the metal rolls of the inking 1 train of the machine,retractiblemeans for temporarily supporting said blade in an in clinedposition with its edge out of contact with said metal roll, a pluralityfingers mounted upon and adjustable along said rock shaft, means forrocking said shaft to cause said fingers to resiliently press upon ofspring the blade and an ink receiving trough detachably supported bysaid stay bar in a position to receive ink removed by the scrapingblade. igned at Edinburgh, in the county of Midlothian and UnitedKingdom thisv29th day of November, A. D. 1929. i

i WILLIAM JAMES PTRIE.

removably attached to the printing machine I for removably supportingsaid contrivance at its ends, thereby enabling it to be bodily removedfrom the machine, and a plurality of spring fingers mounted upon andadjust able along said member and adapted, when said member is rocked,to resiliently press the edge of said blade into contact with the roll.

L. In combination withthe inking train of a printing machine, a scrapingblade held in contact with one of the rollers of said inking train, andan except for a long open slot which terminates at a distance from theends of the trough so that the trough may be up-ended without spillingits contents.

5. In combination with the inking train of a printing machine, aflexible scraping blade adapted for scraping contact with one of thegear-driven metal rolls of said inking train, a bar upon which saidscraping blade is rockably supported for movement into and out ofcontact with said roll, a plurality of springink receiving troughcovered in

